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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2015) | Viewed by 47041

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Prof. Dr. Derek Clements-Croome

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School of the Built Environment, Whiteknights, University of Reading, P.O. Box 219, Reading RG6 6AW, UK
Interests: health and wellbeing; design and management of intelligent buildings; sustainable liveable buildings; environmental sensory design; creating productive and creative workplaces
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Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable, green buildings attract a lot of attention. The language used to describe these buildings has become prolix. Buildings are complex because they comprise of many systems that are designed and managed by many professionals with different educational backgrounds. Buildings are for people and communities and they can improve the quality of life in terms of not only convenience, but also in terms of health and well-being. However, buildings do consume lots of materials, energy, and water. Also, they generate waste and can pollute, such that one needs to account for social, environmental, and economic factors to ensure that buildings reduce, reuse, and recycle resources.

We invite papers that consider innovative outlooks, case studies or research that can influence the design, management, and operation of buildings and infrastructures now and in the future. Are our ratings tools adequate? How do we deal with holistic problems? Do we need new disciplines? Can a value culture replace the traditional short-term cost tenor still prevalent in the construction industry? These, and many more questions, need consideration. Papers from a wide range of disciplines are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Derek Clements-Croome
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

6532 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improvement of Air Quality and Thermal Environment in an Old City District by Constructing Wind Passages

by Chong Peng, Chu Li, Zuyu Zou, Suwan Shen and Dongqi Sun

Sustainability 2015, 7(9), 12672-12692; https://doi.org/10.3390/su70912672 - 15 Sep 2015

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5430

Abstract

A case study in an old city district with hot-humid climatic conditions in Wuhan, China was conducted to explore the potential renewal strategies favorable to the local residents and pedestrians. For this purpose, a comprehensive mathematical model considering the parameters such as ambient crosswind, solar radiation, natural convection, and a previously established heat transfer mechanism was employed to analyze the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics of the study area. In addition, in the urban renewal process, five alternative renewal strategies, namely, Central Demolition (CD) Plan, Edge Demolition (ED) Plan, Wedge Shape Demolition (WSD) Plan, “L” Shape Demolition (LSD) Plan, and Cross Shape Demolition (CSD) Plan, were adopted to improve the thermal and ventilation environment of Wuhan old city district. Through simulation analysis, the temperature and velocity distributions of the original urban layout and five alternative renewal strategies were compared. It is found that the construction of an air passage within the old city district can improve the local air quality, air ventilation, and thermal environment to some extent. Among the five alternative strategies to construct air passages, CSD Plan is much better than the others. Accordingly, corresponding suggestions and strategies for urban renewal were presented. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Building)

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2425 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Implementing Sustainability Criteria for Selecting a Roof Assembly Typology in Medium Span Buildings

by Julian Canto-Perello, Maria P. Martinez-Garcia, Jorge Curiel-Esparza and Manuel Martin-Utrillas

Sustainability 2015, 7(6), 6854-6871; https://doi.org/10.3390/su7066854 - 28 May 2015

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 6627

Abstract

Technological advances have allowed the development of new roof assembly typologies with higher efficiency and less waste. However, in the construction sector the focus is generally on reducing cost and not in sustainable development factors. Short-sighted building planning based only on economic criteria should be avoided improving decision support systems. In addition, the selection of an appropriate roof assembly in a building’s design stage is a complex problem due to the existence of different tangible and intangible factors and the multiple alternatives available. The roof typologies under study involve prefabricated concrete, steel and laminated wood structures. This research work applies a multi-criteria hybrid model combining the Analytical Hierarchy Process with the Delphi method and the VIKOR technique for implementing sustainability criteria in the selection of a roof assembly in medium span buildings. The proposed decision support system enables the use of the triple bottom line that considers economic, social and environmental criteria. Under the criteria analyzed, the compromise solution found is the self-supporting curved system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Building)

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982 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of the Reference Numerical Parameters of the Monthly Method in ISO 13790 Considering S/V Ratio

by Hee-Jeong Kwak, Jae-Hun Jo and Seung-Jik Suh

Sustainability 2015, 7(1), 767-781; https://doi.org/10.3390/su7010767 - 12 Jan 2015

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5784

Abstract

Many studies have investigated the accuracy of the numerical parameters in the application of the quasi steady-state calculation method. The aim of this study is to derive the reference numerical parameters of the ISO 13790 monthly method by reflecting the surface-to-volume (S/V) ratio and the characteristics of the structures. The calculation process was established, and the parameters necessary to derive the reference numerical parameters were calculated based on the input data prepared for the established calculation processes. The reference numerical parameters were then derived through regression analyses of the calculated parameters and the time constant. The parameters obtained from an apartment building and the parameters of the international standard were both applied to the Passive House Planning Package (PHPP) and EnergyPlus programs, and the results were analyzed in order to evaluate the validity of the results. The analysis revealed that the calculation results based on the parameters derived from this study yielded lower error rates than those based on the default parameters in ISO 13790. However, the differences were shown to be negligible in the case of high heat capacity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Building)

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918 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Examination of Green Building Drivers in the South African Construction Industry: Economics versus Ecology

by Abimbola Olukemi Windapo

Sustainability 2014, 6(9), 6088-6106; https://doi.org/10.3390/su6096088 - 09 Sep 2014

Cited by 83 | Viewed by 13891

Abstract

There is a large body of literature on green buildings, but few studies have focused on the motivation behind the construction of green buildings globally, and in South Africa in particular. This paper investigates the key drivers of green building in the Western Cape Construction Industry of South Africa and examines whether these drivers have changed over time. A comprehensive literature review was undertaken to provide an overview of green building issues globally and in South Africa, followed by an empirical investigation into the drivers of green building in South Africa using a multi-case study approach. The findings reveal that the key drivers of green building include rising energy costs, the industry’s Green Star rating system, competitive advantages and legislation. The study also indicates that these key drivers have not changed significantly over time. Taken together, these results suggest that the increase in green building has little to do with ecological factors and more to do with economic factors—operational costs and stakeholder demands. The paper concludes that as long as the cost of energy continues to increase and there are recognised industry rating systems in place, the need for green buildings is likely to remain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Building)

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758 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Economic Feasibility Analysis of the Application of Geothermal Energy Facilities to Public Building Structures

by Sangyong Kim, Young Jun Jang, Yoonseok Shin and Gwang-Hee Kim

Sustainability 2014, 6(4), 1667-1685; https://doi.org/10.3390/su6041667 - 27 Mar 2014

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6561

Abstract

This study aims to present an efficient plan for the application of a geothermal energy facility at the building structure planning phase. Energy consumption, energy cost and the primary energy consumption of buildings were calculated to enable a comparison of buildings prior to the application of a geothermal energy facility. The capacity for energy savings and the costs related to the installation of such a facility were estimated. To obtain more reliable criteria for economic feasibility, the lifecycle cost (LCC) analysis incorporated maintenance costs (reflecting repair and replacement cycles based on construction work specifications of a new renewable energy facility) and initial construction costs (calculated based on design drawings for its practical installation). It is expected that the findings of this study will help in the selection of an economically viable geothermal energy facility at the building construction planning phase. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Building)

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828 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Multi-Objective (Energy, Economic and Environmental Performance) Life Cycle Analysis for Better Building Design

by Jian Yao

Sustainability 2014, 6(2), 602-614; https://doi.org/10.3390/su6020602 - 27 Jan 2014

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 6674

Abstract

Design improvement is critical for achieving a low-cost and high energy-efficient building with low carbon emissions. Thus, designers need to consider many factors (such as energy, economic and environmental performance) in the early design stage. This paper presents a multi-objective analysis for better building design and compares the EDH-based design improvements (introduced by the author in a previous work, EDH means energy difference between households) with seven potential improvement measures commonly used in achieving a better overall performance for the energy, economy and environment. A typical residential building in China was modeled for a number of simulations, and the simulation results were used to carry out a life cycle-based performance analysis. Seven potential improvement options that are commonly used are compared, and the results show that it is difficult to identify an option that has a better performance in all these three aspects. On the other hand, EDH-based design improvement achieves relatively high energy, economic and environmental performance compared to the former seven options. Moreover, EDH-based design improvement can provide designers with flexible options to select from in order to address diverse demands for building aesthetics, function, and so on, or to avoid potential difficulties when some kinds of materials or measures that are planned to be used are unavailable locally. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Building)

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